I want my flying cars

It's a post-modern cliche that the flying cars Disney, the 1956 World's Fair, and the entire cannon of early science fiction promised, never materialized. Everyone I know who grew up reading "Popular Mechanics" is slightly disappointed that while we can Skype across the world and receive mechanical hearts if necessary, we still don't have flying cars.

I blame roads.

We need roads, right?  And to have roads we need government, right?

The federalist's cop-out in this argument is to point out that the Constitution suggests the USG should regulate interstate roads, but not necessarily fund them.  But even the most libertarian conservative agrees we need roads-- just not too many.

But I think maybe, if we want to be theoretical, we can take it a bit further. Here's how I get to that point:

Why do we have roads?

Well we have them for cars and trucks.  And we need those conveyances to promote commerce, yeah?

Well yes, but what if we didn't have roads?

It'd be a disaster.  Business would cease, the economy would collapse, the whole darned world would fall apart.  But let's think a bit more-- doesn't chaos breed innovation?

Might it be that the reason we don't have flying cars is because the government is subsidizing roads?  If you think about it, the internal combustion engine, the heart of the car, hasn't really changed much in the past 100 years.  Engines are more powerful and more efficient, but the principle is still the same.  Vehicles are still propelled by exploding fossil fuels in order to generate energy which eventually turns the wheels.  That idea is basically the same as it was when people still thought Mars had canals.

And why change?  As long as we're all kicking in cash to pay for roads, via taxes and debt, car manufacturers can out compete any competitor who comes up with a solution to roads.

In fact, there is a disincentive to engineer a non-road using conveyance.  It'd be like inventing a home that's not eligible for a mortgage deduction.

I've never seen that hippie, leftist, blame the capitalist flick "Who Killed the Electric Car" which came out a few years ago, but based upon this stream of consciousness diatribe I've just written, I'm going to check it out and report back.